Virginia Henderson’s Theory
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Virginia Henderson’s Theory
In the healthcare system, many theories are crucial in guiding the nurses on critical interventions and practices to enhance the care and wellbeing of the patients. One of the most used nursing theories is the need theory of Virginia Henderson. The theory focuses on the critical patient needs that the nurses should focus on in effectively delivering care and providing a condition of independence. The theory consists of three main concepts; individual, environment, health, and nursing (Gonzalo, 2021). The individuals have the basic needs that require assistance to achieve health and dependence, or a peaceful death if they are under critical conditions. This can be maintained through emotional and physiological balance. The physical and social environments contribute to the wellbeing of an individual. Thus, Henderson observes that the patients should be provided with the most conducive and encouraging environment for independence. Nurses play a crucial role in promoting health within the community, preventing illness, and controlling the adverse health conditions within the society.
In community healthcare, an educational program is one of the many opportunities that I have in my nursing practice to exhibit and use Henderson’s need theory. Within society, numerous chronic diseases need to be prevented, controlled, and maintained. Some chronic diseases include diabetes, arthritis, and cardiac diseases that require educational programs to reduce patient dependency on medical practitioners. Training the community on the preventive measures, signs, and treatment procedures may help prevent the community from high incidences of the disease. For instance, as a community nurse, I train the community on the risk factors of diabetes such as obesity, poor dieting, and sedentary lifestyles, among others. The sick diabetic patients are training on the medications, self-testing kits, and self-management techniques that reduce the dependency of the patients on nurses and improve their quality of life. Babineau-Therrien et al. (2020) researched the effectiveness of patient education for Asthmatic patients in attaining self-care and management. According to the research, the education on asthma triggers, inhaler techniques, and self-management techniques for optimal health in the patients contributed to high levels of independence among the patients and general improvement in reducing exacerbations.
The educational practice is aligned to ANA’s definition of a nurse. According to the nurses’ association, a nurse is a dedicated and specialized professional who is constantly involved in addressing the healthcare needs of the society through accurate diagnoses, education to the public on critical healthcare issues, administration of medications, and offering collaborative care (ANA, n.d). This shows that patient education is a powerful tool for encouraging self-care and management that helps the patient in attaining independence.
References
ANA. (n.d.). What is Nursing & What do nurses do? | ANA Enterprise. American Nurses Association. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/workforce/what-is-nursing/
Babineau-Therrien, J., Boulet, L. P., & Gagné, M. (2020). Self-management support provided by trained asthma-educators results in improved quality of life and asthma control compared to usual care: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Patient education and counseling, 103(8), 1498-1506.
Gonzalo, A. B. (2021, March 5). Virginia Henderson: Nursing Need Theory. Nurseslabs. https://nurseslabs.com/virginia-hendersons-need-theory/